ST. LOUIS — Montgomery County native Kayla DiCello was named an alternate for the women's gymnastics team that will be heading to the Tokyo Olympic Games for Team USA.
DiCello is a rising senior from Northwest High School in Germantown, Maryland, and trains at Hill’s Gymnastics in Gaithersburg. She will travel to Tokyo as part of a larger 10-person team comprised of DiCello and three additional alternates: Kara Eaker, Emma Malabuyo and Leanne Wong.
DiCello was part of a handful of athletes that competed at the Olympic trials for gymnastics in St. Louis, Missouri, through the weekend.
Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles and Grace McCallum will make up the featured four-athlete team. Mykayla Skinner and Jade Carey will compete individually.
If one of these athletes were to get hurt, DiCello or one of the other alternates could be called in to participate.
DiCello came in third overall in the prestigious GK Classic in May leading up to the Olympic trials.
In her gymnastics profile, she says she started gymnastics in a “Mommy and me gymnastics class at Hill's gymnastics when I was two” and her favorite event is the bars and learning new things in gymnastics.
The Americans will be heavily favored to win their third straight Olympic title and their talent pool is so deep that the selection committee is basically just naming the score if the U.S. is anywhere close to its A-game.